New CDC Report Cites Dining Out As A Significant COVID Risk

Adults who contract COVID-19 are twice as likely as the general population to have eaten at a restaurant in the two weeks beforehand, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report on Friday. 

Both indoor and outdoor dining pose a risk of infection because patrons can’t eat or drink with a mask on, the CDC noted. It advised that alternative defenses against coronavirus be considered “to protect customers, employees, and communities.”

The CDC report looks at onsite restaurant dining of alIl sorts, with no differentiation between eating outside or being seated indoors. It comes as restaurateurs in many areas are clamoring for restrictions on indoor table service to be lifted.  Restaurants in New York City and many areas of California have yet to be allowed to reopen even a portion of their dining rooms. Operators elsewhere are pushing to raise imposed capacity caps of 25% or 50%. Nationally, many establishments have been offering onsite service through patios, parking lot seating or other open-air accommodations.